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Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:33 am EST

Tuesday's Three Stars: Ozzie rules, Pens roll

By Matt Romig

No. 1 star: Chris Osgood(notes), Detroit Red Wings

Osgood has been challenged by Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Tuesday he delivered with his 50th career shutout in a 2-0 win over the Bruins. The embattled Detroit goalie did his best work in the first period when he stopped Marco Sturm(notes) on a point-blank chance, then corralled the rebound with his glove after receiving an assist from the post. In all Ozzie made 29 saves as he moved within six wins of 400 career victories. After all the finger pointing that followed his rough October (3.10 GAA, .889 save pct.), Osgood was in dire need of an effort like this.

No. 2 star: Kris Letang(notes), Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins aren't supposed to win in California and certainly the loss of Sergei Gonchar(notes) is expected to catch up with the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but neither obstacle was a factor in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Ducks. Pittsburgh blueliners combined for six points, led by Letang, who scored his first goal of the season and added an assist on Pascal Dupuis'(notes) game-winner as the Pens improved to an NHL-best 12-3-0. Letang led all Penguins skaters with 23:46 of ice time, sharing team-high honors in both shots (3) and blocked shots (3).

No. 3 star: Ryan Kesler(notes), Vancouver Canucks

Kesler racked up three assists in a wild 4-1 win over the Rangers and is currently the highest-scoring American-born player in the NHL with 16 points. Kesler could have been the goat. He somehow got the extra penalty in what was a 10-on-7 melee in the third period. The Rangers would score moments after that penalty expired, but Kesler, who has five points in two November games, would provide the primary assist on both the game-winning and insurance goals.

Honorable Mention: Pavel Datsyuk(notes) had the primary assist on both Detroit goals, including a pretty drop pass to Tomas Holmstrom(notes) for the icebreaker. Datsyuk has multi-point efforts in four of six games. … Phil Kessel(notes) was held off the scoresheet in his Maple Leafs debut, but he was plenty active in putting 10 shots on goal. … Ryan Malone's(notes) overtime goal was his fourth game-winner of the young season for the Lightning. … Tampa goalie Antero Niittymaki(notes) stopped 40 shots to up his save percentage to .940 on the season. … Thashers defenseman Mark Popovic(notes), a five-year veteran, scored his first NHL goal in his 51st game. … Pittsburgh tied an NHL record with its seventh straight road win to start the season. … Anaheim's Corey Perry(notes) scored his 100th and 101st career goals in the loss to the Pens.

Did You Know?: Pittsburgh's 4-3 victory in Anaheim was just its second win in California since January, 1999.

Dishonorable Mention: The Bruins have not scored in 133 minutes while being shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since 2007. … Toronto has surrendered the first goal in 12 of 13 games. … Montreal fans were not sure what to make of the announcement that Carey Price(notes) had been named the Molson Cup player of the month for October. … The Rangers haven't won in Vancouver in 12 years.

Related: Chris Osgood, Carey Price, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, Pascal Dupuis, Ryan Malone, Pavel Datsyuk, Antero Niittymaki, Marco Sturm, Tomas Holmstrom, Sergei Gonchar, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, 3 Stars

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53 Comments

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  1. Fill
    1. Posted by Fill Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:47 am EST

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    avery should add stick jacking to his purse collecting hobby
  2. Johnny Appleseed
    2. Posted by Johnny Appleseed Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:40 am EST

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    MISSING! ALL-POINTS BULLETIN: Boston Bruins Offense. Last seen Saturday afternoon (10/31) at around 3 PM, near Tobin Bridge in Boston, MA. May have been kidnapped while trick-or-treating. If found, please return to TD Bank Garden by 7 PM Thursday (at the latest). NOTE: Avidly avoids power-play. Do not search there. Efforts are futile.
  3. SPaRTiGaS
    3. Posted by SPaRTiGaS Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:11 am EST

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    hey #1. avery wasnt talked about in this post. so keep your hard on to yourself and grow up, idiot
  4. NHL_SharksFinatic
    4. Posted by NHL_SharksFinatic Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:11 am EST

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    sidney crosby... saving the day for the pens late. right after fleury's brilliant glove save.
    bryan little with his first goal of the season... he literally just stood there. peverley did all of the work. and how good is ondrej pavelec? I think Kari Letatonin is probably on his way out. Good riddance.
    Toronto gets another point - where's the parade?
    Oh.. corey perry stinks. dont ruin your blog by mentioning his name.
  5. M
    5. Posted by M Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:45 am EST

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    It is nice to see Chris "9 fingers" Letang get on the scoreboard. After Gonchar and Malkin are out of the line up for a month or so and the Penguins remain in playoff contention let alone 1st place, is it time to finally say Crosby is the better player on that team and in the league? We will see. And conversely when the Caps don't win one game in Oveckin's absence, albeit unknown if he is playing from "week to week", do they give the Hart trophy to him for a Christmas present?
  6. Pensfan71
    6. Posted by Pensfan71 Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:02 am EST

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    I agree great to see Tanger get on the board with a goal hes been playing well just not getting the bounces. And Alex Goligoski has been one of the best defensemen in the league so far this year. He should get a look for the US team. I don't necessarily think the Caps won't win a gave without Ovechkin, but he's a bigger loss for the Caps than Geno and Gonch are for the Pens. The Pens just have a deeper team and they still have that Crosby guy. Maybe the Caps will learn how to play a little defense with Ovie not scoring 2 goals a game.
  7. Pensfan71
    7. Posted by Pensfan71 Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:04 am EST

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    Bruins fans I know you have a lot of injuries this year, but is Mark Recchi still a first line winger? I'd start there in your analysis of the no offense thing.
  8. Pensfan71
    8. Posted by Pensfan71 Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:06 am EST

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    Bruins fans I know you have a lot of injuries this year, but is Mark Recchi still a first line winger? Id start there in your analysis of the no offense thing.
  9. hockey101
    9. Posted by hockey101 Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:07 am EST

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    No video of Mattias Ohlund welcoming Phil Kessel back to the NHL?
  10. Pensfan71
    10. Posted by Pensfan71 Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:07 am EST

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    oops.
  11. Phil Wood
    11. Posted by Phil Wood Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:12 am EST

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    Wow - those Leafs really know how to lose in OT. Look, a charity point is a charity point... but for hockey god's sake, just WIN some games. 41 shots; 8 penalties; home ice - when that doesn't equal WIN, what do you want fans to do??
    Good work from Kessel but rarely were his shots very dangerous. Still, I wonder if Boston is begining to wonder if Kessel wasn't better than their Savard-loving-brains were telling them.
  12. beer_man_beer_here
    12. Posted by beer_man_beer_here Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:18 am EST

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    @ Bruins fans
    If Osgood played like he did in October we lose that game...There was times when we were getting dominated in our zone but Osgood played amazing...You got 29 shots which doesn't happen against us unless ur playing some good offense...Long story short, your offense was there, Osgood just stole the game from you...Much like Anderson did to us in Colorado when we dominated the entire game and couldn't score...
    Raf and Big R out w/ flu + Lebda and Meech more ice time = THANK GOD FOR OSGOOD...
  13. beer_man_beer_here
    13. Posted by beer_man_beer_here Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:22 am EST

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    Big E*
  14. DON_DOC_IN
    14. Posted by DON_DOC_IN Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:49 am EST

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    Very soild game by Ozzie! I don't watch the Bruins much, but man do they run around and have there elbows flying. Sean Thorton was inches away a few times from taking someones head off. I can't imagine this team when Lucic comes back. Wings were lucky to get out of this one with no injuries.....
  15. Hans Gruber
    15. Posted by Hans Gruber Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:51 am EST

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    This Comcast/Direct TV pecker measuring contest has gone on long enough. These two pukes need to start thinking about customers instead of themselves. The NHL needs to go to a real network. By the way, if Direct TV wrote a huge check for the NHL to be broadcast on the 101 network whose side would Game Show Gary be on then?
  16. M
    16. Posted by M Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:10 am EST

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    @AndrewV, either way, when VS gets rebroadcast back on Direct TV the problem is that now the Direct TV customers will still be subjected to cage fighting on a night when there were two prime east/west match-ups, that was just unconscionable last night. Especially after I was subject to that snorefest Wings/Bruins game.
    @pensfan71, Letang is not just getting some bounces but he is doing this less one digit, amazing!
  17. Tom W
    17. Posted by Tom W Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:47 am EST

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    I really wish the Rangers played the Canucks again this season.. would like to see where this all goes.
  18. tmr
    18. Posted by tmr Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:13 am EST

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    Osgood came through big...a solid and much needed win for Detroit.
  19. MTL_WINGS
    19. Posted by MTL_WINGS Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:16 am EST

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    Wings looked really good on the PK last night which is a good thing considering two of those PK's were with Kronwall in the box. Good job on staying high and taking the point shot away from Chara. To my surprise Doug Janik played 13 invisible minutes which means he didn't do anything to cost us. I love watching Datsyuk play, there is not 1 thing he doesn't do well on the ice. It's all the little things that he does that makes him great.
    I think that's the difference between him and malkin, ovechkin or crosby. He might not be on the verge of making a spectacular play everytime he's on the ice but you know that with or without the puck he's going to do something smart and make a play. You saw that last night when he made Chara circle back into his own zone 2 or 3 times without even really being to aggressive on the forecheck. Then controlling that puck and getting it back to holstrom in the slot to score the flukey winner. That's a play that about 90% of the league can't make.
    Okay, Datsyuk worship over, please continue.
  20. Pensfan71
    20. Posted by Pensfan71 Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:16 am EST

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    so "M" let me get this straight your a pens fan and a flyers fan?
  21. Jay
    21. Posted by Jay Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:32 am EST

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    It's OK Wysh, the Bruins are just, how did you put it, "Transitioning" . Good to see you nut up and give Ozzie some cred for a change though. And what has Kessler been eating, that guy is seeing the ice with x-ray vision.
  22. habs1rule
    22. Posted by habs1rule Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:35 am EST

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    Well, look at the All Stars we voted in last year from Les Crapitants., ..Why does it surprise anyone that Cant Carey us Price should win the Molson Cup . Enjoy the ride, idiots!!
  23. habs1rule
    23. Posted by habs1rule Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:37 am EST

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    Best comment from a Habs fans on our site came after another loss, where some pondscum said it would take 20-25 games for us to "Gel" with all these new players.....I thought he said 'Smell"!!
  24. M
    24. Posted by M Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:43 am EST

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    Oh believe me pensfan71, make no mistake there are three highlights in life for me, a Flyers win, a Rangers and/or Pens loss and the wife throwing me a mercy bone every so often. And let me tell you brother its in that order, have no doubt. I am just really happy to see that Letang's career wasn't in jeopardy after suffering the hellacious injustice of having a paper-cut on his finger.

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