2-1 The Theme of the Night
The theme of the night on Friday was the 2-1 score which happened in three of the five games.
Usually in a low scoring game, at least one will go into overtime but this was not the case on Friday, although the Devils-Lightning game did so as New Jersey won 3-2 in a shootout.
Without further adieu, let’s get into Friday’s action.
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NEW JERSEY 3 TAMPA BAY 2 (Shootout)
Patrik Elias beat Evgeni Nabokov for the only goal in the shootout as the Devils beat the Lightning 3-2.
Keith Kinkaid stopped 26 shots and all three in the shootout for the win while Nabokov turned aside 16 shots.
Adam Henrique and Elias gave the Devils a 2-0 lead after one period but Steve Stamkos in the second and Nikita Kucherov with his 13th of the season tied it in the third.
Ryan Callahan assisted on both with Jonathan Drouin, who moved up to the first line on Tuesday, drew one assist and now has more fantasy value as he is on the first unit.
Tyler Johnson sat out the game with the stomach flu as he had gone the previous 115 games without missing one.
OTTAWA 6 ANAHEIM 2
The Ducks came into the game with the best record in the NHL but the province of Ontario was not nice to them as they dropped their second 6-2 decision, previously losing to Toronto on Tuesday. Fortunately they won 2-1 in Montreal on Thursday.
Mike Hoffman scored twice with Kyle Turris and Mika Zibanejad each scoring once and adding an assist as Ilya Bryzgalov was less than stellar in the Anaheim net, stropping only 25 of 31 shots.
Milan Michalek and Mark Stone completed the scoring for Ottawa as Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan each had two assists.
Ryan Getzlaf was the only Duck to beat Craig Anderson and he did so twice as Anderson stopped 32 of 34 shots for his eighth win of the season and his third in the last four games. Ben Lovejoy set up both goals.
Anderson had a 115:14 minute scoreless streak going until Getzlaf’s first goals with less than a minute to go in the second, ended that.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2 DETROIT 1
Brock Nelson and Anders Lee each scored once and added an assist to lead the Islanders to a 2-1 win over Detroit.
The line, with Ryan Strome as its third member, gave Detroit all it could handle as the Islanders roared back after giving up Henrik Zetterberg’s opening goal, his sixth of the season.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 17 shots as he raised his record to 17-6-0 this season while Detroit netminder Petr Mrazek saw his record drop to 3-2-0 as he played stellar in the final two periods, kicking out 22 of 23 shots with only Lee’s winning goal eluding him.
Jimmy Howard left the game after the first period with a lower body injury. He stopped eight of nine shots and came away with no decision. There was no timetable for his return as coach Mike Babcock said Howard was injured in the post-game press conference but did not elaborate on his injury.
WINNIPEG 2 BOSTON 1
Mathieu Perreault’s fifth goal of the season with 23 seconds remaining in the second period stood up as the winner as the Jets defeated the slumping Boston Bruins 2-1.
Evander Kane opened the scoring early in the first as the newly acquired Jay Harrison picked up an assist in his first game in a Winnipeg uniform.
Torey Krug tied things up for Boston with is sixth of the season before Perreault scored later in the second for the win.
Michael Hutchinson stopped 30 pucks for his seventh win of the season as he has lost twice as well as suffering two losses after regulation. The Jets goaltender is pushing Ondrej Pavelec for the starting job as his 1.73 GAA and .940 save percentage, are both the best in the NHL.
Tuukka Rask saw his record drop to 12-10-3 this season as he stopped 25-of-27 shots. Rask was considered the top goalie in fantasy hockey heading into the season but his 2.50 GAA and .914 save percentage, leave a lot to be desired.
DALLAS 2 CALGARY 1
In the third straight 2-1 game of the night, Jamie Benn and Trevor Daley scored second period goals to lead the Stars to a 2-1 win over the Flames in Calgary.
Benn also drew an assist on Daley’s goal while Cody Eakin set up both in the win.
Defenseman Mark Giordano drew the Flames close near the end of the second with an unassisted effort, his 12th goal of the season.
Kari Lehtonen turned aside 21 shots to move his record to 13-7-5 while Jonas Hiller stopped 19 shots as he is now 9-10-1 this season for the slumping Flames who have now lost seven games in a row.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
GOALS
Mike Hoffman 2
Ryan Getzlaf 2
ASSISTS
Ryan Callahan 2
Bobby Ryan 2
Erik Karlsson 2
SHOTS
Brock Nelson 6
Chris Kelly 5
Rene Bourque 5
HITS
Colin Greening 8
Adam Lowry 6
Mark Fistric 6
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 6
PENALTY MINUTES
Mike Ryder 8
Brian Boyle 4
Cal Clutterbuck 4
PLUS/MINUS
Bobby Ryan 3
Mike Hoffman 3
Mika Zibanejad 3
BLOCKS
Kris Russell 7
Mark Borowiecki 6
PLUS/MINUS
Sami Vatanen -3
Jakob Silfverberg -3
