The NHL Hat Trick Club welcomed it's newest member of the season last night, in Florida Panther's forward Olli Jokinen. Much to the dismay of the Canadiens, Jokinen brought the Florida Panthers from a 1-0 to deficit and lifted them to a 5-1 surplus...or win rather. Jokinen scored his first two goals in the second period, and the capper in the third.

Eddie Belfour kept his team in the game by making 13 saves in the first period, and keeping the game close. When the Florida Panthers did finally wake, Habs netminder David Aebischer didn't stand a chance, surrendering 4 goals on 24 shots. He was pulled and replaced by Cristobal Huet in the third who allowed one goal on 15 shots. Montreal Coach Guy Carbonneau has been rotating his keepers in a manner similiar to Coach Wilson in San Jose, however, his goalies play 2 games on, then 2 off, rather than the every other game system the Sharks employ. Huet has been the stronger of the two Habs goalies as of late......and since he's one of my starters, hopefully he will get some more icetime! Guy, help a brother out!

Quick Shave:
The Boston Bruins defeated their Original Six rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 last night, on an overtime goal by sophomore Patrice Bergeron. The Phoenix Coyotes have themselves a win streak! No seriously. The Coyotes won their second straight game by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in the shootout 3-2. Yanic Perreault who has been a nice pickup for the Yotes so far, scored in the shootout. Curtis Joseph was big in net again last night stopping 482 shots. My Game of the Night pick was pretty exciting, unless you are a fan of defense. 12 goals were scored (not counting the shootout winner), and 90 shots recorded. The Predators (who looked like their old selves from the beginning of the season), surrendered a 6-3 lead to the Wild who fought back to tie the game and force extra time. The Minnesota Wild won 7-6 on a Brian Rolston (who does this guy think he is this season? What a year he's having!) shootout goal. The Philadelphia Flyers must like the air in California. The Flyers defeated their second West Coast opponent in consecutive nights last night with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. R.J. Umberger scored the game tying, and game winning goals for the Flyers. The Anaheim win was huge, and beating the Kings the next day is pretty impressive for a team that has looked like a steaming pile of ....well you know, all season. The road trip will certainly be doing a lot for their confidence. Ryan Smyth is an animal. Smyth is having an outstanding season for the Edmonton Oilers, and returned from his charley horse injury (which saw him miss no time) to score 2 goals for the second straight game and help put the St. Louis Blues away 6-2.

Game of the Night:
Dallas at Atlanta 7:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Buffalo 8:00 PM
Detroit at Calgary 9:00 PM

I give you a three....because Bosh loves you. Dallas and Atlanta are two elite teams, and I would just like to see these two giants butt heads. The Pittsburgh Penguins get to size themselves up against and elite team in the Sabres. Let's see if these kids are for real or not. I was almost loathe to pick this one, because the last time they met, Calgary posted 14 shots on the Wings. However, this is a new Flames team riding a 5 game win streak, so maybe they will get 16 shots tonight. Hopefully it will be more exciting, and if it isn't watch the other two! Enjoy the games my bearded friends!

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh