Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 3 (from Montreal) - The Leafs and Habs renewed their rivalry last night in Montreal, and it was a very fast-paced and violent game. There were 5 fights in this game, but none worse than the 2nd fight of the night between Colton Orr and George Parros which resulted in Parros being taken off the ice on a stretcher. As Orr was falling to the ground, he had a hold of Parros's jersey and the momentum of Orr falling dragged Parros to the ice face first. Parros is okay and out of the hospital, but he has a concussion and definitely wasn't the way he wanted to start his Canadiens career. Besides Orr and Parros fighting twice, Mark Fraser fought Travis Moen, Carter Ashton fought Jarred Tinordi and Mark Fraser fought Brandon Prust. On to the goals; James Van Riemsdyk opened the scoring for the 2013-14 season on the PP in the first. The Habs would respond with goals from Lars Eller and Brendan Gallagher to take a 2-1 lead after the 1st. In the 2nd period, the Leafs would tie the game with a beautiful shot from Captain Dion Phaneuf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_vxQCeuUi4), and then they took the lead with a short-handed goal from Tyler Bozak. In the 3rd, Mason Raymond gave the Leafs a 4-2 lead with his 1st goal as a Maple Leaf. Lars Eller would get his 2nd of the game late in the 3rd, but the Leafs held on to the 4-3 win.
Three Stars:
3. Mason Raymond (1 goal) - Toronto
2. Lars Eller (2 goals, 1 assist) - Montreal
1. James Reimer (34 saves on 37 shots) - Toronto
Chicago Blackhawks 6, Washington Capitals 4 (from Chicago) - The defending Champs watched their Stanley Cup banner get raised to the rafters on Monday night, and they kicked off their title defense with an impressive 6-4 win over the Capitals. This was a high scoring affair, both high-powered offenses were in full effect tonight as it was a rough night for the goaltenders. The Hawks got an unlikely icebreaker from Brandon Bollig, as he put in the rebound for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. The Caps responded on the PP, as Captain Alexander Ovechkin went bar-down on Crawford to tie it at 1-1. That was short-lived however, as 24 seconds later Conn Smythe winner Patrick Kane beat Brayden Holtby short-side with a beautiful wrist shot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7SgWeM-7po) to take a 2-1 lead into the 1st intermission. The Caps tied the game mid-way through the 2nd, as Mikhail Grabovski scored his 1st goal as a Washington Capital (won't be the last time you hear his name tonight). The Hawks would then take the lead on the PP, as Brent Seabrook scored on a rebound to give them a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd. The Capitals would then put the pressure on early in the 3rd, and on the PP Mikhail Grabovski tipped home a Mike Green shot for his 2nd of the game and a 3-3 tie. Minutes later, again on a Washington PP, Grabovski would tip home another Mike Green point shot for the hatrick and a 4-3 lead for the Capitals. The Blackhaws were down a goal but started to take control of the game, and in typical Hawks fashion they turned the game around with 3 unanswered goals. First Brandon Saad tied the game with a nifty give-and-go with Michael Handzus for his 1st of the season. The Hawks would then take the lead for good on a goal by Johnny Oduya, as his point shot eluded Holtby and went off his glove and trickled into the net. Marian Hossa would add an empty netter, and the defending Champs held on for a 6-4 win
Three Stars:
3. Patrick Kane (1 goal) - Chicago
2. Brandon Saad (1 goal, 2 assists) - Chicago
1. Mikhail Grabovski (3 goals, 1 assist - Washington
Winnipeg Jets 5, Edmonton Oilers 4 (from Edmonton) - The Winnipeg Jets earned a come-from-behind victory thanks to two new faces in their lineup; Jacob Trouba and Michael Frolik, who scored 3rd period goals. The Oilers opened the scoring in the 1st, as Luke Gazdic scored his 1st NHL goal in his 1st game as an Edmonton Oiler. The Jets would respond a minute later, as rookie Mark Schiefele scored his 1st of the season with a nice wrist shot past Dubnyk. Later in the period Brian Little would give the Jets a 2-1 lead, as he beat Dubynk stick side after a nifty move at the blue-line. The Oilers would tie the game late in the period on the PP, as Boyd Gordon tipped a Justin Schultz shot for his 1st goal as an Edmonton Oiler. The scoring continued in the 2nd, as Ales Hemsky scored for the Oilers in vintage-Hemsky style with a fantastic goal that is the early candidate for goal of the year. The Oilers would then take a 4-2 lead on the PP, as newcomer Jesse Joensuu scored his 1st goal of the season. The big Finnish forward got a Jordan Eberle rebound and buried his 1st goal as an Edmonton Oiler. The Jets would then get an important goal late in the 2nd, as newcomer Michael Frolik scored his 1st as a Winnipeg Jet on a rebound goal to cut the lead to 4-3. The pace picked up in the 3rd, and after a bad cross-ice pass by Taylor Hall the Jets would tie the game. Rookie Jacob Trouba, playing in his 1st NHL game, intercepted the Hall pass and gained entry into the zone as he let go a rocket of a slap shot beating Dubynk high-glove. Trouba had a monster game for the Jets, getting a goal and an assist in a team-high 25:02 of icetime, but his first NHL goal was the biggest moment for him and for his teammates (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyuMohPnAy4). The Jets would then take the lead for good with 5 minutes remaining, as a nifty pass from Eric Tangradi set up Michael Frolik with an open net for his 2nd of the game. The Jets would hold on for the 5-4 win.
Three Stars:
3. Ales Hemsky (1 goal, 1 assist) - Edmonton
2. Michael Frolik (2 goals, 1 assist) - Winnipeg
1. Jacob Trouba (1 goal, 1 assist) - Winnipeg
Player of the Night - Mikhail Grabovski: Grabo scored 3 goals and added an assist for 4 points in his Washington Capitals debut
Highlight of the Night - Ales Hemsky with a vintage Hemsky deke and finish earns it tonight: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=72&id=449921&cmpid=nhl-twt
Interesting Stat of the Night - A wild opening night for the 2013-14 NHL season, there were 26 goals in only 3 games.
Whats up next (October 2nd) - There are three games on tap for tonight:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Philadelphia Flyers @7:30 PM ET (In Philadelphia)
2. Buffalo Sabres vs. Detroit Red Wings @ 8:00 PM ET (In Detroit)
3. Anaheim Ducks vs. Colorado Avalanche @9:30 PM ET (In Colorado)
-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff
No comments:
Post a Comment