Crosby and company came out tonight and made Bosh look pretty good in picking them to make the playoffs this year. Yes Sidney Crosby looked great and scored a goal and an assist in the 4-0 shutout victory, but the real hero of the evening was Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Penguins were outshot 40-21 in the game, but Fleury stopped them all and even killed of two, powerplays where the Flyers carried a two man advantage. I would say this kid thrives on adversity. Having all but lost his starting job to veteran Jocelyn Thibault, Fleury was named the number 1 goalie in the Penguins final pre-season game. Fleury responded with an amazing effort, and his team finished it for him and their new prospective owner, Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie, who was in attendence and had to love what he saw.

Eric Staal's younger brother and Pittsburgh's first round draft pick Jordan Staal made his NHL debut tonight and is expected to remain with the team at least until the return of center Evgeni Malkin is able to return.

Shanahan scores his 600th in Ranger debut
The New York Rangers officially introduced forward Jaromir Jagr as the 24th captain in franchise history, and he responded by opening the scoring 29 seconds into the game. After that Shanahan made his presence known in his New York Ranger debut by potting two goals, his 599th, and 600th of his career. Shanahan becomes the 15th player to join the elite goal scorers club. The Rangers went on to defeat the Washington Capitals 5-2.

Luongo shines for Vancouver
Another debut, and another success. Roberto Luongo played his first game between the pipes for the Vancouver Canucks, stopping 27 shots and helping his new team defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1.

Havlat and Chicago defeat Nashville in goalfest
An evening of debuts that for the moment appear to be looking for the teams that have acquired them, continued in Nashville tonight. Chicago's newest forward Martin Havlat scored 2 goals and 2 asssist in his Blackhawks debut, and helped Chicago come from behind twice to defeat the Predators in a wild 8-6 win.

Islanders fall hard in Phoenix
Ok, not all debuts were easy one's tonight. Ted Nolan's return to coaching after nearly a decade is one he would probably like to forget. The Islanders $65 million dollar goalie Rick DiPietro was lit up early and often by the Coyotes who went on to defeat their New York counterparts 6-3. DiPietro was eventually pulled in favor of his backup Mike Dunham who started the third. Wayne Gretzky's team looked good at even strength and on the powerplay, and forwards Doan, Nagy and Reinprecht were all over the scoresheet.

The Late Game!
I don't want you West Coasters not to feel the love from the Bosher, so I stayed up and watched an unbelievable game between the St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks. This match was back and forth with Mark Bell looking like he had sealed the game with a goal to make it 4-3 in the final minutes, but the relentless Blues kept up the attack, pulled Legace from the net, got a fortunate half-man advantage from Ville Nieminen's broken stick and tied the game on a Keith Tkachuk goal with seconds remaining. The match went to OT where Curtis Brown buried the game winner halfway through the extra period! What a game!

The first two nights have come and gone in the NHL, and I feel like the NHL Center Ice package has already paid for itself. If you haven't gotten it yet, they are running a free preview which I'm pretty sure is running till next week. Give it a look. If you are a hockey fan, this is the best investment you can make! If you order early, I think they will knock $20 off the price. Tell them Captain Bosh sent you (just so you can hear them say 'Who?').

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh