NHL Scores (10-26)

Montreal Canadiens (3) @ New York Islanders (2)

Boston Bruins (2) @ New York Rangers (5)

Washington Capitals (1) @ Edmonton Oilers (4)

Nashville Predators (1) @ Anaheim Ducks (6)

Game of the Night

         It was a back and forth affair between the Canadiens and Islanders in Brooklyn. Montreal continued their winning ways by breaking the tie late to grab their 5^th win in a row. The Islanders continue their early season struggles, but hope to turn things around soon.

         Paul Byron opened the scoring at 3:10 of the 1^st when he jammed home a rebound to give the Canadiens their first lead. At 15:17, John Tavares tallied a rebound goal of his own on the power play to tie it. The game remained very tight heading into the final period.

         At 11:21, Phillip Danault took advantage of another rebound when he potted a goal to regain the lead. The lead didn’t last very long. The Islanders would again tie it 3 minutes later when Dennis Seidenberg ripped a one-timer past former Islander goaltender Al Montoya. With time winding down, however, the Canadiens would have the last laugh.

         Shea Weber scored a power play goal with only 2:57 remaining when he sent a scorching shot past Greiss. At first glance, it would appear the game progressed with a seesaw fashion. Looks can often be deceiving, though, as the Canadiens never trailed during the game. This shows that they were in control almost the whole time and did not panic. This seems to be their recipe for success so far this season: not giving up and not panicking.

Play of the Night

https://www.nhl.com/video/mcintyre-flashes-the-leather/t-282916306/c-45719503

NHL Scores (10-25)

Florida Panthers (2) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (3)

                

Minnesota Wild (5) @ Boston Bruins (0)

Arizona Coyotes (3) @ New Jersey Devils (5)

Buffalo Sabres (3) @ Philadelphia Flyers (4) (SO)

Carolina Hurricanes (2) @ Detroit Red Wings (4)

Tampa Bay Lightning (7) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (3)

Calgary Flames (4) @ St. Louis Blues (1)

Winnipeg Jets (2) @ Dallas Stars (3)

Ottawa Senators (3) @ Vancouver Canucks (0)

Anaheim Ducks (1) @ San Jose Sharks (2) (OT)

Columbus Blue Jackets (2) @ Los Angeles Kings (3) (OT)

Game of the Night

         Last night, the Philadelphia Flyers emerged victorious against the Buffalo Sabres in another one of this NHL season’s many comeback games so far. 5 consecutive power play goals were scored in this intensely competitive hockey game.

         Buffalo struck first when Tyler Ennis deflected a shot by Zemgus Girgensons at 2:06 of the 2^nd period. Matt Moulson would go on to score 2 power play goals in the period. His first came at 3:56, his second at 15:43. The Sabres carried a 3-0 lead heading into the 3^rd.

         The Flyers began their comeback when rookie Travis Konecny redirected Ivan Provorov’s shot into the net to score his first NHL goal at 4:30 on the power play. Though it looked as if the Sabres would win, they ran into penalty trouble near the end of regulation. Brayden Schenn scored his first goal of the season with a perfectly placed shot on the power play at 17:04.

         With a little over 2 minutes remaining, the Sabres took another penalty, giving the Flyers a golden opportunity to tie the game with a 6-on-4 advantage. After several unsuccessful tries to score on a frantic net mouth scramble, Mark Streit was finally able to poke the loose puck over the bodies lying in the crease. With another power play goal by the Flyers, the game was tied 3-3 with 1:51 remaining in regulation time.

         There was no score in the overtime period, though Jakub Voracek had a very good scoring chance in the final seconds of 3-on-3. His bid for the game-winner was stymied by goaltender Anders Nilsson, who held a 6-0 shootout record in his career. He hoped to hold onto his perfect record in this shootout.

         Claude Giroux scored in the 2^nd round, and Kyle Okposo was stopped by Steve Mason, giving Voracek a second stab at the game-winning goal. This time, he was successful. He patiently outwaited Nilsson to put the puck over the prone goaltender to kill his perfect shootout record. Philadelphia came all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Buffalo, which was an effective demonstration of their comeback abilities. I predict the Flyers will be a very good team this year, as evidenced by their efforts in this contest.

Play of the Night

https://www.nhl.com/video/vlasic-nets-ot-winner/t-282916134/c-45675003

NHL Scores (10-24)

Philadelphia Flyers (1) @ Montreal Canadiens (3)

Calgary Flames (3) @ Chicago Blackhawks (2) (SO)

Game of the Night

         Special teams were the story of last night’s game between the Flames and Blackhawks. So far this season, Chicago has had an abysmal penalty kill. They entered Monday with a league worst 42.9% success rate. Calgary entered the game with the worst power play in the league.

         Calgary’s power play quickly got on the board at 4:51 when Sam Bennett tucked in a loose puck to make it 1-0. The Blackhawks penalty kill was continuing to struggle. At the same time, the Flames power play was having a rare success. The Hawks tied the game at 1:32 of the 2^nd when Artem Anisimov gave Patrick Kane an amazing cross-ice pass. Kane finished the play by shooting a one-timer into the net over Brian Elliot.

         The Flames power play would burn (pun intended) the Blackhawks once again when Shawn Monahan put in another rebound at 6:52. Chicago would end up tying the game at 4:12 of the 3^rd when second-time Blackhawk Brian Campbell’s shot deflected in off a Calgary defenseman’s stick. The Blackhawks came close to breaking the tie in the dying seconds of regulation, but were unsuccessful.

         As a result, the game required overtime to decide a winner. Chicago had a full 2 minutes of power play time early in the extra period, but the opportunity was thwarted by Calgary. With no score in overtime, the game continued into a shootout. No one could score until former Blackhawk Kris Versteeg won the game for the Flames in the 7^th round.

         This game, in my opinion, contained 3 main storylines. First, Brian Elliot earned his first win as a member of the Calgary Flames. He stopped 31 of 33 shots and didn’t allow any shootout goals. Second, the Blackhawks special teams continue to struggle, as evidenced by the 2 power play goals against and 0 power play goals scored in the game. Third and finally, Kris Versteeg came back to Chicago to haunt his old team with his game-winner in the shootout.

Play of the Night

https://www.nhl.com/video/versteegs-slick-so-winner/t-282915354/c-45635103