Bryan Little big on Friday
It was a fairly quiet night in the NHL on Friday as there were only three games.
Corey Perry suffered a lower body injury when he was submarined by Keith Ballard of the Wild in the first period. He did not return but the injury was not considered serious and Perry will go with the team to Winnipeg for Sunday’s game.
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ANAHEIM 5 MINNESOTA 4
Matt Beleskey’s 13th goal of the season was the game winner as the Ducks prevailed over the Wild.
Ryan Kesler led the way with two goals and an assist with Tim Jackman (an unlikely source as he is more of an enforcer and fourth line player than a scorer) chipping in with a goal and an assist. He now has three points this season. Jakob Silfverberg also scored with Kyle Palmieri picking up two assists.
The weak Minnesota power play actually connected for a pair of goals as Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise scored with the man-advantage while Mikael Granlund assisted on both. Jonas Brodin, with his first and Justin Fontaine with his second finished the scoring for Minnesota.
Frederik Andersen went the whole way as he stopped 21 shots for the win. Darcy Kuemper gave up five goals on only 18 shots before Niklas Backstrom came in and stopped all three shots he faced in the third.
WINNIPEG 6 COLORADO 2
It was Bryan Little night in Winnipeg as the Jets rode Little’s hat trick along with one assist to whip the Avalanche.
Blake Wheeler had three assists and linemate Andrew Ladd had a goal and two helpers while Dustin Byfuglien and Chris Thorburn (with his first of the season) also found the back of the net.
Jarome Iginla scored both for Colorado with Gabriel Landeskog assisting on both. The linemates did not have a good night on the plus/minus side of things as they were each a minus-two.
Tempers flared in the third period with the score 5-1 as Maxime Talbot and Jim Slater went at it. There were also four misconducts handed out in the third.
Michael Hutchinson picked up the win as he stopped 20-of-22 shots while Semyon Varlamov struggled, allowing five goals on 30 shots before being replaced by Reto Berra who gave up one goal on seven chances.
CHICAGO 4 MONTREAL 3
The Blackhawks scored twice in the third, including the winner with 27 seconds to go, to defeat the visiting Montreal Canadiens 4-3.
Brandon Saad’s fifth of the season on a wrister was the winner as Michal Rozsival and Ben Smith gave Chicago a 2-0 lead in the first period before the Habs scored three in a row as Brendan Gallagher, Sergei Gonchar with his first as a Canadien, and P.K. Subban gave Montreal the lead heading into the third.
Jonathan Toews power play goal in the third tied it up, setting the stage for Saad’s winner.
Antti Raanta was stellar in goal stopping 38 shots for the win, while Carey Price made 32 saves in taking the loss.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
GOALS
Bryan Little 3
Ryan Kesler 2
Jarome Iginla 2
ASSISTS
Blake Wheeler 3
Mikael Granlund 2
Kyle Palmieri 2
SHOTS ON GOAL
Marcus Kruger 6
Jason Zucker 6
HITS
P.K. Subban 5
Evander Kane 4
Dustin Byfuglien 4
Mark Fistric 4
Josh Manson 4
BLOCKED SHOTS
Mark Stuart 8
Mark Fistric 5
PENALTY MINUTES
Adam Pardy 14
Anthony Peluso 12
Cody McLeod 12
PLUS/MINUS
Bryan Little +3
Blake Wheeler +3
Matt Beleskey +3
PLUS/MINUS
Erik Johnson -4
Nathan MacKinnon -3
Jan Hejda -3
Marco Scandella -3
Nino Niederreiter -3
