The Buffalo Sabres win streak finally came to an end last night, and their bid to be the only team to start the season with 11 straight victories did as well. The Atlanta Thrashers, a team that in many ways resembles the Sabres were the first team to stop the juggernaut from Buffalo, but it took them the entire game, and overtime, and a shootout to do so.

Atlanta Thrashers forward Bobby Holik, had a goal and an assist on the night as did Scott Mellanby. Ilya Kovalchuk and Niko Kapanen also recorded tallies for the the Thrashers. Kari Lehtonen stopped 32 shots, and then stoned the Sabres in the shootout, to help lift his team over the undefeated Sabres 5-4.

The Thrashers have shared similiar success with the Sabres by using the same formula....great goaltending, stingy defence, and speed, speed, speed. It's not really a surprise that the Thrashers were the team to end Buffalo's win streak, and the game exemplified how evenly matched they were, as the teams traded goals back and forth until the end of regulation.

Quick Shave:
I have to thank Stache, for pointing out that my Game of the Night pick should have been the game above, but perhaps my selection of the young guns of Pittsburgh facing off against the Flyers wasn't such a bad call. The Pittsburgh Penguins hammered the Flyers last night 8-2, and Sidney Crosby joined the NHL Hat Trick club with his first ever career three goal game. Rookie forward and phenom (yeah he's that, and already making his bid for the Calder Trophy) scored his 5th goal in as many games. It seems the Flyers house cleaning has done little to address their real problems, namely, goaltending and slow defenders. Derian Hatcher has put up a goose egg so far this season, is a -11 rating and also got his face rearranged last night (i believe by Talbot). Zdeno Chara scored the game winner for the Boston Bruins to help them defeat his old team the Ottawa Senators 2-1. The New York Rangers got their road trip off to a good start by beating the powerhouse of the West, Phoenix Coyotes 7-3. Brendan Shanahan scored his 9th goal in 10 games with the Rangers. Yannic Perreault is apparently close to signing with Coyotes for a one year deal. Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils recorded his second straight shutout stopping 22 shots and helping his team defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0. The Red Wings are still flying, winning their third straight last night over the St. Louis Blues 3-2. The Carolina Hurricanes scored 3 goals in 43 seconds against the Tampa Bay Lightning and never looked back, defeating the Bolts 6-4. Ilya Bryzgalov earned a shutout for the Anaheim Ducks as the beat the injury riddled Chicago Blackhawks 3-0. Tomas Kaberle joined the NHL Hat Trick club with his three goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they beat the Montreal Canadiens by way of shootout 5-4. Dwayne Roloson blanked the Washington Capitals for a 4-0 shutout win for the Edmonton Oilers.

Game of the Night:
Minnesota at Colorado 8:00 PM

Here's your chance to watch the Minnesota Wild in action. They thunder into the Pepsi Center tonight to face the Avalanche who have received shaky goaltending lately from Jose Theodore, who has had difficulty refinding his MVP form from several seasons ago. Enjoy the games!

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh