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Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:44 am EDT

Saturday's Three Stars: Pavelec stops 50; Tambellini's trick is treat

By Sean Leahy

No. 1 Star: Ondrej Pavelec(notes), Atlanta Thrashers

If Kari Lehtonen(notes) thought his gig as Atlanta's No. 1 goaltender was safe, he better start worrying. Pavelec had the game of his life making 50 saves in a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. A handful of his 50 stops were showcased in this wild flurry near the end of s 3rd period that saw the Senators outshoot the Thrashers 25-3:

No. 2 star: Tomas Vokoun(notes), Florida Panthers

Vokoun opened the season with a victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Helsinki and lost his next eight starts until tonight. His 34 saves and shutout led the way in a 4-0 Panthers win over the St. Louis Blues. It was only the second time this season that Vokoun has allowed two goals or less in a game.

No. 3 star: Jeff Tambellini(notes), New York Islanders

Posting his first career hat-trick, Tambellini helped the Isles rout Buffalo and chase Ryan Miller(notes) in a 5-0 win at Nassau Coliseum. New York has now won three in a row and reached the .500 mark after opening the season with six straight losses. According to the AP, Tambellini had never had a two-goal game in the NHL and now has two in the last week. 

Honorable mention: Tuukka Rask(notes) was the star of Boston's 2-0 win over Edmonton. The 22-year old Finn denied 19 Oiler shots for his second career NHL shutout ... Bruins head coach Claude Julien recorded his 100th win with the franchise ... Ray Emery(notes) made 39 saves while Braydon Coburn(notes) scored twice in 1:30 as the Philadelphia Flyers routed the Carolina Hurricanes 6-1. Matt Carle(notes) added a goal and an assist, reaching 100 career points ... Hurricanes forward Sergei Samsonov(notes) played in his 750th NHL game ... The New Jersey Devils continue to be road warriors after a 2-1 shootout win in Tampa Bay improved their record away from home to 7-0-0 ... Martin St. Louis(notes) recorded an assist for his 600th career NHL point and tied a franchise record with a helper in his 10th straight game ... Steven Stamkos(notes) has been "seen" lately with his point streak extended against the Devils thanks to his 10th goal of the season ... Martin Biron's(notes) 38 saves and shutout against Buffalo helped him reach the 200-win plateau for his NHL career ... Alexei Ponikarovsky's(notes) two goals and Tomas Kaberle's(notes) goal with :54 seconds left against Montreal helped complete a late Toronto comeback before falling in the shootout.

Did you know?: Before tonight, the St. Louis Blues hadn't been shutout in back-to-back home games since 1997 (AP)

Dishonorable mention: The 'Canes are currently on an eight-game losing streak ... Sidney Crosby's(notes) lack of discipline hurt the Penguins in their 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild. The Pittsburgh captain collected nine penalty-minutes, including a fight with Marek Zidlicky ... The announced attendance in Phoenix for the Coyotes-Anaheim Ducks game was just 6,495 ... Anaheim's power-play could not take advantage of their opportunites going 1-7 against Phoenix ... Ottawa's offense was unable to beat Pavelec more than once after throwing 51 shots on goal ... Finally, the fans at Bell Centre in Montreal began their "Hey hey hey, goodbye!" chant just a tad bit early:

Related: Tomas Vokoun, Sergei Samsonov, Martin St. Louis, Tomas Kaberle, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ryan Miller, Ray Emery, Kari Lehtonen, Braydon Coburn, Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Pavelec, Matt Carle, Sidney Crosby, Tuukka Rask, Jeff Tambellini, Martin Biron, Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, 3 Stars

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53 Comments

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  1. David
    1. Posted by David Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:29 am EST

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    I vote for Backstrom he stole the game from the Pens.
  2. HotStacey
    2. Posted by HotStacey Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:40 am EST

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    it's hilarious watching habs fans being cocky about ANYTHING let alone a game they didn't even win. what a bunch of conceited frenchies. gionta is like watching an oompa loompa on skates. i can't even look at him. why is his head so big?
  3. HotStacey
    3. Posted by HotStacey Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:45 am EST

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    wait, switch gionta with camallerri....whatever...they're both midgets
  4. Brian
    4. Posted by Brian Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:46 am EST

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    I second the Backstrom vote.
  5. HotStacey
    5. Posted by HotStacey Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:50 am EST

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    hmmm..... i wonder why all those habs fans were so excited? maybe it was because there was.....SCORING, perhaps? maybe the goals were what had everyone cheering at the end and wondering who would win? in the wings game all the goals were scored in a 1:30 span.....that was it. and by "all" i mean "three." i fell asleep. also, brad may got his eye poked out.
  6. HotStacey
    6. Posted by HotStacey Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:52 am EST

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    with out any doubt what so ever - the league has returned to 03-04 levels of scoring. you heard it here first.
  7. HotStacey
    7. Posted by HotStacey Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:52 am EST

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    benis
  8. Brian
    8. Posted by Brian Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:58 am EST

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    Also, honorable mention: guys standing up for themselves.
    Shane Doan, for coming back from a big (cheap?) Wisniewski hit that knocked him senseless to take on Wis--Doan gets the edge in that fight.
    Crosby's penalties surely hurt the Penguins, but he was kind of slew footed there and the refs didn't call anything--so I'm glad he did something about it.
    Andy Sutton went after Craig Rivet's head with his forearm/elbow, so Rivet immediately went after him and dropped the gloves, which I loved to see. Unfortunately, the NHL still has that idiotic instigator rule, so Rivet got the misconduct.
    With the rules as they stand (no head-shot rule), if someone throws a shot at a player's head they need to know immediately that it's not ok in order to affect any change in the game. Same with a slew foot. The refs aren't going to do it, so the players must.
  9. Brian
    9. Posted by Brian Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:14 am EST

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    Hey HotStacey, who was it that scored in the shootout? Oh, that was Cammalleri, the "midget" as you put it. And then you celebrate goal scoring? So you like it when a lot of goals are scored, unless they are scored by really quick, agile, skilled, finesse, offensive-minded players who are built to thrive in the "new" NHL and who would fit perfectly into your dream version of the NHL where only offense is rewarded, emphasized, celebrated, and enjoyed. Doesn't make sense....oh, right...nevermind. You just don't like short people? Or they're all the same? I don't get it. You should change your name to ClassAct. And leave it to you to make the "the Canadiens are short" joke...haven't heard that a million and a half times already. Try again. And next time, try writing something new--just any new idea or thought will do. We've all heard your incessant gushing for goals. Seriously, your comments just take up space at this point. You might as well write asdkl aldskf aldi a alkjal afaereat alkdfyon adlkt iagt.
  10. MarkT
    10. Posted by MarkT Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:15 am EST

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    Tambellini! The Islanders are for real this year! Watch out Pens!
  11. ImScore
    11. Posted by ImScore Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:19 am EST

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    You are so f-ing biased against Crosby, Greg. His lack of discipline hurt the Penguins? Get the hell outta here. He generated more scoring chances than any Penguin. Nicklas Backstrom played a hell of a game. Pens outshot the Wild 35-13 and he was a huge reason why. They just couldn't put the puck in the net tonight.
    So, he fought a guy with a few minutes left in the 2nd period and was out for 5 minutes with his team down 1 goal. Big deal. There's nothing this guy can do for people like you to give him credit. If he doesn't fight, you would find a way to say he backed down from Zidlicky like a coward or something.
    How about your man crush Ovechkin and his 0 fights since he fought Richards in his rookie season in a horrible fight, huh? Crosby's got 4 fights to Ovechkin's 1.
    Go fellate OV, Wysh.
  12. Johnny Appleseed
    12. Posted by Johnny Appleseed Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:20 am EST

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    Stick-tap to the Wheeler-Sobotka-Paille line of Boston, all three of whom received points on Boston's two goals, and would have each had three points a-piece if there were two more seconds in the second period.
    They were the best line on the ice for Boston yesterday afternoon, applying tons of offensive pressure, and it showed on the stat sheet.
  13. Daniel S
    13. Posted by Daniel S Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:24 am EST

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    No honorable for Nittymaki? Hell of a game he played.
  14. diehard_wings_fan134096
    14. Posted by diehard_wings_fan134096 Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:30 am EST

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    @IMscore
    hmm....I'm not a spelling major but I do believe that seeing "sean leahy" on the authored by at the top of the article does NOT spell "greg wyshynski"....
  15. diehard_wings_fan134096
    15. Posted by diehard_wings_fan134096 Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:33 am EST

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    honorable mention for the wings in not allowing a goal within the first minute of a hockey game for a change......
  16. Justin K
    16. Posted by Justin K Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:24 am EST

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    I'll throw in a vote for Backstrom, too. The Pens played well, but Backstrom played better.
  17. Kawsmoe
    17. Posted by Kawsmoe Sun Nov 01, 2009 3:25 am EST

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    The "seeing" Stamkos joke has run it's course...
  18. Dewman
    18. Posted by Dewman Sun Nov 01, 2009 5:11 am EST

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    Gotta love the fact that whenever Crosby gets in a fight, the refs are a foot away from the fight so they can protect him. Just let the guys fight. Crosby's the one that started the fight, let him go. He started out the fight well, but once it looked like Zidlicky could get a few punches in, the refs broke it up. Quit babying the "Kid" and let him get his nose dirty a little. Maybe then us Crosby haters would have more respect for him.
  19. Brian C
    19. Posted by Brian C Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:51 am EST

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    "Once it looked like Zidlicky could get some shots in..." did you watch the fight at all? Crosby got Zid's jersey over his head, that why they stopped it. Zid never once threw a punch, nor was close to it, he turtled almost immediately and then got his jersey over his head.
    But I agree - if Ovechkin runs around hitting people for no reason and takes dumb penalties, Wysh is all "his fire ignited an otherwise stale Caps lineup, and fell barely behind 2-1" Crosby does it, and he cost them the game.
    The fans of any team would be signing the team out of the building at that point. Good on the Leafs for coming back. But they still came up short in the end. Montreal doesn't lose if they get to OT or the SO so far. It was a crazy game - I can't blame Toskala or Halak for the score - crazy puck bounces and ricochets all over the ice. Both made very good saves in a game where the puck had a mind of it's own. He played horrible in the shootout - too far back in his net - but he made some really good saves. Leafs fans should feel somewhat more encouraged, as he really kept them in the game and gave them a shot to win. We got the second point, so that's all I care about. Montreal needs to play better in the third period.
  20. Brian C
    20. Posted by Brian C Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:52 am EST

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    And Brian (the other one, I'm not talking to myself) - you're better off ignoring HotStacey. It's rare she has something worthwhile to add, and I have found people who identify themselves as "hot" in the internet rarely are.
  21. Das Schutzenfest
    21. Posted by Das Schutzenfest Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:11 am EST

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    Backstrom was strong against the Pens, but Staal missed on an empty net that could have tied things up. Schmohawk moves like that make it pretty clear that this guy is overpaid.
  22. habs1rule
    22. Posted by habs1rule Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:51 am EST

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    I posted Na na na na...Na na na na....Hey Hey Hey....Oops on several sites yesterday......Pretty close..Like this win should'nt have been. If Toronto is the Laffs, Montreal has to be the punch line!!
  23. habs1rule
    23. Posted by habs1rule Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:55 am EST

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    @3 Hot Tuna, What are you bit-ching at now, Eight goals plus the shootout!! Vibrators Paradise!!
  24. Spock
    24. Posted by Spock Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:58 am EST

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    As for the Honorable Mention. Tuukka Rask did earn a shoutout for Boston, but Vladimir Sobotka's hustle provided the Bruins with the offensive spark that they needed to win yesterday's game (1goal, 1assist).
    And Leahy (Penguins fan?) probably shouldn't have chosen Crosby for dishonorable mention . . . . but things like that happen when players like Crosby (and OV) get alot of exposure.
  25. Wing Nut
    25. Posted by Wing Nut Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:00 am EST

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    I agree with the posts above regarding Backstrom - the guy made great saves on the Penguins' home ice against the league's (current) hot team and leads the Wild to a 2-1 victory. If you're not going to give him one of the three stars at LEAST give him an honorable mention!
    I'm interested to hear what habs1rule has to say about her home crowd prematurely singing the Leafs into a "scoring frenzy" to tie the game. I'm also interested in knowing if the fans broke into a second verse of "Na Na Hey Hey..." after they won in the shootout.
    Finally, the Wings showed that they can still play as a unit and Ozzie woke up and made some great saves in the opening minutes of play. I know it's only 1 game, but you have to start with the seed before you can grow a tree. GO WINGS - let's come home and get some wins!

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Puck Daddy is an NHL blog edited by Greg Wyshynski. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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