Saturday Night Special

Posted on Sunday, March 8, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Jackets triple up Flyers

 
 


Columbus Blue Jackets (3) vs Philadelphia Flyers (1)........
The Flyers played host to the Blue Jackets on Saturday Night at Wachovia Center, where the Flyers have not been great as of late going 4-5-0-1 in their last ten on home ice and Philly would suffer yet another loss on home ice against the 'Jackets.
Mike Richards opened the scoring for the visitors at 12:52 as he picked up a rebound off of a Marc Methot slapper and snapped it into the open side before Philly's Corey Crawford could get to it. Matt Cooke doubled Columbus' lead just before the end of the period (19:26) as Eric Nystrom hit him on the fly with a perfect pass down the wing and Cooke drilled the puck over Crawford's out-stretched glove. The Flyers led the shot clock 9-6 after twenty minutes.
In the second period the hole for the Flyers got even deeper at 11:56 as Chris Kunitz was sent in all alone on Crawford by Methot and snapped the puck five hole. The 'Jackets peepered the Flyers' net with seventeen shots in the middle frame and Crawford made several outstanding stops to keep his team from being blown out of their own rink.
Captain Ryan Getzlaf scored at 7:28 of the third to cut the deficit to two as Semyon Varlamov kicked out a Karl Alzner slapper right onto the stick of Getzlaf and the Flyers went backhand, forehand on the Jacket tender before stuffing the puck under Varlamov. That was as close Philadelphia would get as their most recent losing streak reaches two.
MOLSON'S THREE STARS:
1 - Semyon Varlamov (Clb)........ made 34 saves to win his 37th game of the year.
2 - Mike Richards (Clb)........... scored once and added an assist, had three shots on net.
3 - Chris Kunitz (Clb)............. had one goal on four shots and added two great open ice hits.

Reporting For The WCHL Network.....
Peter Puck

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Saturday Night Special

Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Jets slide past Avalanche

 
 


Colorado Avalanche (3) vs Winnipeg Jets (5).......
The Avalanche went into Winnipeg in hopes of building on their modest one game win streak after snapping a three game slide versus the Panthers two nights prior. The suddenly surging Jets, winners of seven of their last eight games are trying to keep their ship in the air and keep their place in the play-off derby.
Winnipeg's Patrik Elias opened the scoring for the home side at 4:00 of the first on the powerplay as he had three chances in front of Jonathan Bernier before burying the last one at the side of the net, Alexander Steen picked up the only assist on the goal. David Desharnais tied it with his 11th of the year at 7:54, also with the extra man as he finished up a sweet three way passing play on the rush with assists going to Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa. The first ended with the Avs out-shooting Winnipeg 13-7.
T.J Oshie scored twice for Colorado in eight seconds to open the second period. On the first goal (0:12) Oshie grabbed a David Krejci  rebound after Jets' tender Jonas Gustavsson kicked it out and roofed it over the goalie's right shoulder. Soon after, Jay Harrison took an ill-advised hooking penalty putting the Avs back on the powerplay. On the ensuing face-off, Krejci won the draw and found Oshie in the slot and the winger made no mistake, firing it low stick on Gustavsson at the twenty second mark, prompting coach Dave Lewis to call a time-out and motion toward Pekke Rinne who replaced Gustavsson in net. The move seemed to re-fuel the Jets as they would rattle off three goals in just over eight minutes to take a 4-3 lead before the period was eleven minutes old. Patrik Elias (2:11) scored his second of the night as he came off the boards gathered up a juicy rebound and tucked it five hole on Bernier. Cal Clutterbuck tied the game at 6:18 as he raced across the Avs blue-line and hammered home his 7th of the year, again beating Bernier through the wickets. At 8:35 the Jets looked to have gone up by a goal by Alexander Steen but it was ruled after review that the net had been dislodged from the pegs prior to the puck entering the net. Colorado's Oshie was whistled for roughing at 8:31 of the second, sending the Jets powerplay back to work and with just four seconds remaining (10:27) Elias would complete his hat-trick when Lee Stempniak spotted Elias leaving the penalty box and hit him mid-stride with a gorgeous pass and Elias snapped a shot over the blocker hand of Bernier. The Jets out shot Colorado 12-10 in the second.
In the third Winnipeg's Colin Fraser scored his second of the year at 6:37 to give the Jet's their first two goal lead of the match as the third line of Fraser, Clutterbuck and Derek Dorsett had the Avs pend in their end for over a minute and finally created a turn over that Fraser finally capitalized on, sliding the puck between the post and pad on Bernier. The Avs coach John Tortorella elected to call his time out, also sending Tim Thomas to replace Bernier in the net. Thomas stopped all five shots he faced in the game but the Avs fell to the Jets.
MOLSON'S THREE STARS:
1 - Patrik Elias (Wpg)......... 3 goals, 7 shots
2 - T.J. Oshie (Col).............. 2 goals, +1, 4 shots
3 - Colin Fraser (Wpg)....... 1 goal, +2, 5 shots

Reporting For The WCHL Network........

Peter Puck

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Saturday night special

Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Devils dodge Sabres in 4-2 win

 
 


Buffalo Sabres (2) vs New Jersey Devils (4)...........
Going into Saturday night both team were fighting for the last playoff spot in the East, so this was one of those perverbial three point games. The Devils were just hoping to put a stop to there seven game slide and the Sabres losers of three of their last four were just trying to stay in the race.
The Devils' powerplay was on fire Saturday night as they struck four times against the Sabres. Pavel Datsyuk put New Jersey on the board at 7:45 with Sabre David Backes in the box for slashing. Datsyuk won the ensuing face-off over to Valtteri Filppula, his shot went wide and Datsyuk was the first to the puck as it came off the boards, snapping it high glove on Jussi Rynnas. Ryan Suter doubled the Devils' lead at 13:09 when again his team on the powerplay, he snapped a seeing eye shot through the pads of Rynnas, Dan Cleary and David Bolland were credited with assists on the play. The Devils were all over the Sabres in the opening twenty as the shots would suggest, 16-2 Devils.
The Sabres responded in the second period as Joe Pavelski scored his 25th of the season at 16:42 as he would pick up a Ed Jovonovski shot that was blocked by Devil James Wisniewski and snapping it over the shoulder of Ben Bishop, tending net for New Jersey. The Devils held a huge lead in shots through forty minutes at 26-11 but only led by one thanks to some superb goaltending by Sabre Jussi Rynnas.
The Devils' were back on the powerplay in the third when Pavel Datsyuk struck for his second of the night at 6:58 as defenseman Sergei Gonchar looked on helplessly. Datsyuk won his face-off cleanly from Joe Pavelski and simply snapped the puck past Rynnas from inside the circle. The Sabres again made it a one goal game on their own powerplay tally at 12:37, with David Perron sitting for hooking, David Backes gathered up a loose puck in the slot after Suter blocked the original but couldn't get to his feet to cover Backes as he snapped the puck past the out-stretched skate of Bishop. Pavel Datsyuk completed his hat-trick at 15:18 of the third when the Devils' converted their fourth powerplay goal of the night. Joe Pavelski was again victimized in the face-off circle as Filppula beat him and dished the puck to Datsyuk who released his signature snap shot which beat Rynnas' glove hand into the top left corner of the goal. The final shots in the game were 36-25 New Jersey.
Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots for his 23rd win of the season. 
MOLSON'S THREE STARS:
1 - Pavel Datsyuk (NJ )......... 3 goals, 6 s.o.g
2 - Ryan Suter (NJ ).............. 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 s.o.g
3 - Valtteri Filppula (NJ )...... 3 assists, 6 s.o.g

Reporting For The WCHL Network.........

Peter Puck

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Saturday Night Special

Posted on Sunday, February 8, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Johnson scores lone goal in Islanders win

 
 


San Jose Sharks (0) vs New York Islanders (1).........
The Sharks visited Long Island in hopes of getting back into the playoff picture, presently sitting on the outside looking in as they are three points behind the eighth seeded Oilers but Edmonton has five more wins to their credit. The Isles come into Saturday night's tilt losers of their last five and presently reside in fifth in the Eastern Conference.
The first period was pretty much uneventful as there was no scoring and just a single penalty, a roughing minor given to Isles Erik Johnson, which was killed off successfully. Long Island out-shot the Sharks 11-5 in the first.
In the second period, Johnson got redemption for his earlier penalty by opening the scoring at 11:42 of the second on a slapshot from between the face-off circles. Dustin Tokarski made an amazing save on the original shot by Phil Kessel that was re-directed at the top of the crease by Ryan O'Neil but kicked the puck straight out into the slot and Johnson easily hit the open cage. The Islanders held the edge on shots after forty, 25-16.
In the third the two teams played a very tight defensive game thus limiting the shots on net (8-6 San Jose). The teams played as if afraid to open things up, fearing that could possibly open the flood gates.
Everything didn't go exactly as planned for the Isles even as they wrapped up the two points, they lost Michael Raffl to injury at 9:06 of the third to what is being called by the medical staff, a lower body injury, but reports are that it is an abdominal strain and Raffl could be lost to the team for atleast three weeks. 
Evgeni Malkin may want to talk to his stick manufacturer after he gets back to San Jose as he was held scoreless after having a game's high seven shots on net and was stopped on each attempt.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Carey Price (NYI)........ Carey Price stopped 26 shots for his third shut-out of the season.
2 - Dustin Tokarski (San).... Back-up Dustin Tokarski stopped 30 of 31 shots in a losing cause. Tokarski was listed day-to-day after the game the team citing exhaustion.
3 - Erik Johnson (NYI)...... 1 goal, 1 shot, 4 hits

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Saturday Night Special

Posted on Monday, February 2, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Kings dumped by Blue Jackets

 
 


Columbus Blue Jackets (4) vs Los Angeles Kings (1)...........
Columbus took their two game win streak on the road to LA-LA Land to take on the Kings who have just one win in their last four games going into Saturday's match-up. Columbus scored three straight powerplay goals and four straight overall in just thirty-one minutes of play and cruised to a 4-1 win.
Brent Seabrook blasted home him sixth of the season at 6:55 of the opening period with the extra skater, assists going to Jason Spezza and Chris Kunitz. Just over six minutes later (12:15) Kunitz was the receiptiant of another Spezza set up with Kings' James Neal in the penalty box and he lifted the puck over a sprawled Sergei Bobrovsky in net, the second assist going to Benoit Pouliot. After 20 the shots favored Columbus 11-9.
The second started out much the same as the first as an undisciplined Kings team took another penalty, this one just twenty-seven seconds in as Nick Bonino threw an elbow into the mug of Matt Cooke. Mike Richards would score his 4th of the year at 1:05 as he found a loose puck at the side of the Kings' net in a scrum and snapped home the Bluejackets' third powerplay goal. Seabrook would score his second of the night and seventh of the season as he blew another cannon past Bobrovsky after the tender made the original save off of Kunitz but kicked the puck right out to Seabrook who was staring at a wide open six by four with the tender down and made no mistake, the goal coming at 10:55 at even strength. The 'Jackets managed only four shots on net in the period, managing to score on two of them, they were out-shot 10-4 by LA but Semyon Varlamov stopped everything he faced through forty minutes. 
The third was wide open with both teams firing a combined total of twenty-seven shots. Only a Andre Benoit (4th) slapper at 1:38 beat Varlamov after he made countless stops and his defense couldn't clear the zone.
The win was Varlamov's twenty-forth of the season.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Brent Seabrook (Clb)......... 2 goals, 5 shots
2 - Semyon Varlamov (Clb).... 32 saves
3 - Andre Benoit (LA )........ 1 goal, +1, 2 shots

Reporting For The WCHL Network......
Peter Puck

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Saturday Night Special

Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Ducks double up Preds

 
 


Nashville Predators (2) vs Anaheim Ducks (4)..........
Logan Couture scored two first period goals and added a late second period assist as the Ducks doubled up on the WCHL leading Predators. The loss gave Nashville three in a row, while the win was Anaheim's fifth in as many games. 
Logan Couture opened the scoring at the ten second mark of the first as he took a feed from Mikkel Boedker while darting through the neutral zone and wristed a puck between the legs of Jonathan Quick, the second assist was given to Patrice Bergeron who won the opening face-off clean from Ryan Kesler. Couture struck again at 13:54 on a Ducks' powerplay as Kesler was victimized again in the face-off cycle, as he won the draw but so well that it went off Boedker and right on Couture's stick where he easiely slid it past Quick. Nashville led 15-8 after 20 in shots on net.
Ryan Kesler cut the Ducks lead to one at 3:56 of the middle period as he  deflected a Dmitry Kulikov slapshot over the shoulder of Tuukka Rask in net for Anaheim, Milan Lucic was given the second assist. Boedker got his third point of the night as he restored the Ducks' two goal lead at 18:50 with his twelfth goal of the year as he cut across the front of the net and roofed a backhand past Quick. The Preds coach Dallas Eakins pulled Quick in favor of Niklas Backstrom after that goal, the Ducks' tender allowed three goals on fourteen shots. Nashville led 22-14 in shots after forty.
Anaheim's  Sami Vatanen skated into the Predator's zone and fired a slapshot that was accidently redirected by Pred Jonathan Sim, the goal came at the five minute mark of the third. Nashville got one back at 8:22 as Artem Anisimov beat Bergeron in the faceoff circle to the right of Rask, the puck went back to Frolik who snapped the biscuit past a startled Rask. 
Tuukka Rask made 29 saves for his 19th win of the campaign. Backstrom stopped 13 of 14 in relief for the Preds.
MOLSON'S 3 STARS:
1 - Logan Couture (Ana)....... 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots
2 - Mikkel Boedker (Ana)...... 1 goal, 2 assists, 1 shot
3 - Sami Vatanen (Ana)......... 1 goal, +2, 1 shot

Reporting For The WCHL Network

Peter Puck

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Saturday Night Special

Posted on Monday, January 19, 2015 by WCHL Hockey

Oilers turn leafs to mulch

 
 


Edmonton Oilers (5) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (1)..........
The Oiles arrived in Toronto on a two game win streak, sitting on the outside of the playoff race looking in, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the Avalanche. The Leafs nursing a three game losing streak, their second longest this season.
The Oilers scored twice in thirty-eight seconds part way through the first on goals by Vernon Fiddler(1st) at 8:54 on a re-direct from Philip Larsen, then Brad Richards(10th) scored on the powerplay at 9:32, thanks to a great set up by Jason Pominville. The Leafs cut that lead in half on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' tenth of the year at 10:52 on a nice three way passing play with Troy Brouwer, Patric Hornqvist. Just over five and a half minutes later Edmonton re-gained their two goal lead on a Derick Brassard(7th) blast from the right face-off circle with assists going to Craig Smith and Marek Zidlicky at 16:32. The shots after one were even at 13-13.
The second period was scoreless thanks to a great display of goaltending by Oiler goalie Ilya Bryzgalov who stopped fifteen Leaf shots in the period. Shots after forty, 28-19 Leafs.
The third was scoreless until the Oil struck for two again, late in the period. Alex Chiasson(3rd) at 14:23 from Eric Brewer, Adam Cracknell pretty much put the game away, but just sixty-one seconds later Brooks Laich(5th) from Matt Hendricks and  Brian Gionta at 15:24 added yet another dagger. 
Leafs starter, Jonas Hiller was pulled after allowing three goals on eleven shots in sixteen minutes and thirty-two seconds of work. Rookie Mark Visentin came in and allowed two on fifteen shots for the remainder of regulation.
MOLSON'S THREE STARS:
1 - Ilya Bryzgalov (Edm)........... made 39 saves for his 13th win
2 - Brooks Laich (Edm)............ 1 goal, +1, 3 shots
3 - Alex Chiasson (Edm).......... 1 goal, +1, 1 shot

The Leafs are back at it on Monday as they visit the Philadelphia Flyers who stopped a three game slide of their own at the expense of the Canadiens on Saturday by a score of 4-0 and are led by Captain Ryan Getzlaf who has 31 pts in 25 games played.
The Oilers are right back at it on Sunday as they play host to the suddenly hot San Jose Sharks, winners of their last five straight, outscoring their opponents 20-10 in the process. 

Reporting For The WCHL Network.......

Peter Puck

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