Philadelphia flys to first win in 10 games
The tandem in Philadelphia that had so much success last season finally clicked this season and broke the Flyers 10 game losing streak with a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night.
Simon Gagne, and Peter Forsberg combined for 5 points on the evening to help lift the Flyers from the shadows to defeat Tampa Bay 4-3. Forsberg set up Gagne for two goals last night, and also assisted on recently acquired Alexei Zhitnik's goal to open the scoring. Believe it or not, Flyers goaltender Robert Esche made 42 saves and held on to preserve the win.
While the victory was certainly a confidence booster, it does little to boost their current position in the NHL. The Flyers have 20 points on the season, and sit dead last in the league. The future of this team in the short term will most likely be a pre-trade deadline purge followed by an early if not first round pick in this years NHL Entry Draft.
Quick Shave:
The Carolina Hurricanes win streak was stopped cold last night by John Grahame. I mean by the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres have owned the Canes all season and last night was different. Sabres keeper made 29 saves to lift his team past the Hurricanes 4-1. I believe the fourth time they've met this season.....perhaps third...regardless the Hurricanes can't beat them. The Detroit Red Wings took my advice and gave Hasek the night off last night as they faced the new look Columbus Blue Jackets. Wings goaltender Chris Osgood was good enough and made 21 saves, while Datsyuk, and Cleary each scored 2 goals to defeat the Jackets 7-4. The Los Angeles Kings followed the Wings lead by defeating the Edmonton Oilers by the same score 7-4 last night.
Game of the Night:
NY Rangers at Ottawa 7:30 PM
The last time the Rangers played Ottawa it sparked a 5 game win streak. The Rangers have lost 6 in a row since that streak ended, and are thirsty for a win.....I am anyway. Look for Havlat to join the HTC against the Bruins tonight. Enjoy the games!
Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh
Comments
Nice Gagne.
You know, I went to bed last night thinking Datsyuk had a hat trick last night but woke up to find yahoo telling me my fantasy boy Cleary had actually been given the trick, so assuming that's not going to change I guess we need to welcome him to the HTC! Where did this dude come from? He's been around for awhile and now all of the sudden he's a go-to-guy in Detroit. In fact, I just read on espn.com that Cleary has 17 goals now and guess what? NONE - and I mean none - of those came in October. His first goal was November 4th and the 16 since have him trailing only Ovechkin for the most goals in the league during that time span. His previous best point total for a season was 35 way back in 2000-2001 for Edmonton. Dude's already got 28 in 37 games this year. Probably not going to win him the Hart Trophy or anything, but certainly this guy's been a big surprise, especially on a team like Detroit which has quite a few other weapons.
Since I've done my stat homework, here's something someone else should look up (because I'm lazy). Was last night the first time this year the Kings AND the Coyotes have both won their respective games?
Just askin'.
Posted by: Stache | December 29, 2006 08:20 AM